The master's program provides training in solid-state fundamentals and materials engineering at a more advanced level than the undergraduate program.
To receive the master's degree, a student must take 45 units of courses (approximately 15 quarter-long classes). The list of classes that are required is given in the Materials Science and Engineering section of the Stanford Bulletin. Some students take five classes per quarter and graduate in one year, but most take between four and five quarters to graduate. No thesis or research are required, but some master's students opt to earn 6 to 15 units of credit by doing research with a professor in the lab and writing a master's report. Students interested in this opportunity should make arrangements with a faculty member to supervise their research and enroll in MSE 200. See Mara Violanti, Student Services Manager, for details and approval. Students who do exceptionally well in the master's program and decide that they would like to stay at Stanford to earn a PhD degree may petition into the PhD program.
Applications for the fall of 2015-16 academic year will be available online in mid-autumn. The official final application deadline is:
- MS: 11:59 PM (PST), January 5, 2016
ALL supporting materials (official scores, transcripts, recommendation letters, etc.) must be submitted by the applicaton deadline.
Apply
Apply through the Graduate Admissions Office. The fee for online graduate applications is $125.
The university application is on the Graduate Admissions website. Please read all the information provided prior to applying (any general graduate admission information given on the Materials Science and Engineering website is subject to revision by the Graduate Admissions Office). GRE and TOEFL tests must be taken early enough for us to receive the test scores by the application deadline. No late test scores, recommendation letters, transcripts or other applicable supporting materials will be accepted.
The application consists of the following required materials, all of which must be received by the appropriate deadline for the application to be considered complete:
- Online application, statement of purpose and unofficial transcript(s).
- A minimum of three (3), maximum of six (6) recommendation letters submitted online directly by the recommenders.*
- Official test scores reported by ETS. Stanford's institution code is 4704; no department code is needed.
- Mail one (1) official transcript from all post-secondary instituions you have attended for at least one year in a degree program to the Student Services Office. You'll be asked to provide a second official transcript if you are admitted to the program.
Student Services Office
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
496 Lomita Mall, Durand Building, Room 111A
Stanford, CA 94305-4034
Phone: (650) 724-6784
Fax: (650) 725-4034
*Paper recommendations are not permissible and will be accepted only if online submission is not possible. All other non-essential mailings will not be included in the application.
We urge you to apply early and make every attempt to get your questions answered early. Please refer to Frequently Asked Questions before submitting your questions.
Student Services Manager: Mara Violanti (marav@stanford.edu)
Student Services Specialist: Kevin Gribble(kgribble@stanford.edu)
Late applications on a space-available-only basis
We can accept late applications only if there is still space in our incoming class. Please contact the department if you are unable to apply by the deadline.
Full-time study starts in fall quarter
Full time PhD and MS students generally begin during the fall quarter. Starting a different quarter is highly unlikely due to the nature and structure of our program.
Part-time study available
Working students can ern the MS degree through the Stanford Center for Professional Development on a part-time basis. Students who participate in this program may begin in fall, winter or spring and can apply accordingly.
Honors Cooperative Program
Some of the department’s graduate students participate in the Honors Cooperative Program (HCP), which makes it possible for academically qualified engineers and scientists in industry to be part-time graduate students in Materials Science while continuing professional employment. Industrial firms, government laboratories and other organizations may participate in HCP. In many areas of concentration, the master's degree can be obtained entirely online.
Prospective HCP students follow the same admissions process and must meet the same admissions requirements as full-time graduate students.
Through this program, many graduate courses offered by the School of Engineering on campus are made available through the Stanford Center for Professional Development, which delivers more than 250 courses a year online. For HCP employees who are not part of a graduate degree program at Stanford, courses and certificates are also available through a non-degree option (NDO) and a non-credit professional education program. Non-credit short courses may be customized to meet a company's needs. For a full description of educational services provided by SCPD, visit the SCPD website, call (650) 725-3000, fax (650) 725-2868 or email scpd-registration@stanford.edu.
Suitable backgrounds
Any engineering discipline or related science discipline (such as physics, chemistry, etc.), or mathematics is a good base for graduate study in materials science and engineering.
Notification of admission decisions
You will receive email as well as an admission letter posted in your application regarding any admissions decisions.
